Quite the broad brush you are using. I know a lot of officers, who are fantastic people, and who are great at their job. Perhaps it’s not the cops who are the problem, but those who are breaking the law? After all, why would an officer detain you if you haven’t broken a law? In every interaction I’ve had with officers, I have always been the party breaking the law (speeding, mostly). Here’s a concept: maybe it’s the thugs who are breaking the law are spreading like a virus, and the police are constantly under attack and need to be proactive instead of reactive. As the old saying goes, better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. Maybe if the lowlife scum that are filling our streets and terrorist movements like BLM realized this, we would have fewer incidents altogether. After all, the easiest way to not get the attention of the police is to not break a law.
You mean like Hillary not being indicted because she didn’t violate law. Oh, wait, she did. Mmhmmm..I understand your concern, and both you and Snarky are right in the regard that those who are bad apples aren’t expunged. However, let’s take a bit more of a 10,000-foot altitude look.Factor 1: The unions protect all officers, and terminating an officer for cause is exceptionally difficult. This means if they are a bad egg, getting rid of them is unusually daunting.Factor 2: The police, much like the fire fighters and military, is a trust-based occupation. If you can’t trust your brothers, then the entire matrix falls apart. Being a Marine myself, I know how crucial that is. If you have officers turning on each other because one is considered a bad apple (by who’s definition, dunno), then it sews the seeds of distrust and it causes systemic problems within the department.Factor 3: When organizations like BLM call for the murder of police officers because of the actions of a few, especially the few who are vindicated through empirical evidence (Ferguson, Baltimore, etc), it changes from making sure they are doing their jobs properly to a witch hunt. When someone is the subject of a witch hunt, they get defensive. And closing ranks is how a force gets defensive.Factor 4: The media has switched from reporting news to making news. Look at Ferguson… when the original thing started, before the evidence was considered, riots were already starting. People were calling for violence despite the call for patience. When scientific evidence supported that the officer was assaulted and was defending himself, and that the thug was actually the attacker, the riots only got worse. Individuals are smart, people are dumb. And the mob took over. The media, in turn, fed into this and put talking bobbleheads on the air that only fanned the flames. So in this 24/7 news cycle, people make decisions (thanks to the media) without knowing all the facts. So when Factor 3 is in play, when coupled with Factor 4, you’re right… they are going to be defensive and protect each other. And for that, I can’t really fault them for protecting themselves when people will look for any way to prosecute/persecute officers who are just doing their jobs.
During the ‘65 Watts riots, it was my white great uncle’s black neighbors who protected him for days from the OUTSIDERS who came in to riot and loot, because there weren’t enough cops to get around to all neighborhoods in Watts.
The vast majority of citizens, and cops, seek happiness, health, and a good life, caring for others. The exceptions make the news, always.
That POOR communities are subject to POORER law enforcement and other benefits, like fixing potholes or water lines, is a fact not just in other less “developed” countries, but right here at home.
Anyone who says bigotry is dead in America hasn’t paid attention, especially to Trump’s speeches and actions over the years. And yes, bigots exist on ALL sides of those “fences” that divide us, which is why fences need to come down. We don’t need to build more. (Check out Israel and Baghdad if you want to see the REAL effect of fences and how they CREATE far more problems than they cure, because prejudice and bigotry make poor construction materials.
Wraithkin almost 8 years ago
Quite the broad brush you are using. I know a lot of officers, who are fantastic people, and who are great at their job. Perhaps it’s not the cops who are the problem, but those who are breaking the law? After all, why would an officer detain you if you haven’t broken a law? In every interaction I’ve had with officers, I have always been the party breaking the law (speeding, mostly). Here’s a concept: maybe it’s the thugs who are breaking the law are spreading like a virus, and the police are constantly under attack and need to be proactive instead of reactive. As the old saying goes, better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. Maybe if the lowlife scum that are filling our streets and terrorist movements like BLM realized this, we would have fewer incidents altogether. After all, the easiest way to not get the attention of the police is to not break a law.
Wraithkin almost 8 years ago
You mean like Hillary not being indicted because she didn’t violate law. Oh, wait, she did. Mmhmmm..I understand your concern, and both you and Snarky are right in the regard that those who are bad apples aren’t expunged. However, let’s take a bit more of a 10,000-foot altitude look.Factor 1: The unions protect all officers, and terminating an officer for cause is exceptionally difficult. This means if they are a bad egg, getting rid of them is unusually daunting.Factor 2: The police, much like the fire fighters and military, is a trust-based occupation. If you can’t trust your brothers, then the entire matrix falls apart. Being a Marine myself, I know how crucial that is. If you have officers turning on each other because one is considered a bad apple (by who’s definition, dunno), then it sews the seeds of distrust and it causes systemic problems within the department.Factor 3: When organizations like BLM call for the murder of police officers because of the actions of a few, especially the few who are vindicated through empirical evidence (Ferguson, Baltimore, etc), it changes from making sure they are doing their jobs properly to a witch hunt. When someone is the subject of a witch hunt, they get defensive. And closing ranks is how a force gets defensive.Factor 4: The media has switched from reporting news to making news. Look at Ferguson… when the original thing started, before the evidence was considered, riots were already starting. People were calling for violence despite the call for patience. When scientific evidence supported that the officer was assaulted and was defending himself, and that the thug was actually the attacker, the riots only got worse. Individuals are smart, people are dumb. And the mob took over. The media, in turn, fed into this and put talking bobbleheads on the air that only fanned the flames. So in this 24/7 news cycle, people make decisions (thanks to the media) without knowing all the facts. So when Factor 3 is in play, when coupled with Factor 4, you’re right… they are going to be defensive and protect each other. And for that, I can’t really fault them for protecting themselves when people will look for any way to prosecute/persecute officers who are just doing their jobs.
Dtroutma almost 8 years ago
During the ‘65 Watts riots, it was my white great uncle’s black neighbors who protected him for days from the OUTSIDERS who came in to riot and loot, because there weren’t enough cops to get around to all neighborhoods in Watts.
The vast majority of citizens, and cops, seek happiness, health, and a good life, caring for others. The exceptions make the news, always.
That POOR communities are subject to POORER law enforcement and other benefits, like fixing potholes or water lines, is a fact not just in other less “developed” countries, but right here at home.
Anyone who says bigotry is dead in America hasn’t paid attention, especially to Trump’s speeches and actions over the years. And yes, bigots exist on ALL sides of those “fences” that divide us, which is why fences need to come down. We don’t need to build more. (Check out Israel and Baghdad if you want to see the REAL effect of fences and how they CREATE far more problems than they cure, because prejudice and bigotry make poor construction materials.